How Chloe Moretz Learned to Love Makeup

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Chloe Grace Moretz might have spent her adolescence on red carpets, but she has the same battles with makeup and skincare as your typical 16-year-old—they just started earlier. “I was so terrified of them making me look like a train wreck,” she says of her first premiere, at age eight.

Eight years later, Moretz has probably had more hair and makeup experience than most of us will endure in a lifetime. She’s learned how to be savvy about skincare as well, thanks to a bout of bad acne after months of fake blood application for this month’s remake of the famous horror flick Carrie, in which she plays the title character. The actress shares what it was like being drenched in fake blood, learning to love makeup, and trusting her glam squad, above.

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If it seems like Moretz’s life has been one long movie premiere, that’s because she’s been on the big screen for over fifty percent of her life. “I don’t really remember the first time someone put makeup on me for a red carpet,” she says. “But I do remember being really scared, like: I don’t want lipstick; I don’t want crazy eye shadow.”

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PHOTO: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

“I used to have really problematic skin and I hated getting my makeup done, because I knew I was going to break out even more,” she says. But as Moretz has grown more confident, she’s learned to embrace her glam squad. “Now that I have good skin, I can play around with my makeup, because I’m not afraid to draw attention to my face.”

The actress has been working for so long that her true hair color is as mysterious as Carrie’s supernatural powers. “It was fun to go brunette for awhile,” she says. ““But blonde is the easiest for me to maintain, and I think it’s the prettiest with my skin tone.”

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PHOTO: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for VF

“I’ve become much more adventurous with my makeup now, because I have the most amazing makeup artist, Mai Quynh, and I trust her like crazy,” says Moretz. “I love a good smoky eye; I really like green right now, and purple.”

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It’s never fun to be drenched in fake blood—even if it is for a dream role. “It took three hours: one hour to get the transfers [fake scars!] on, another hour to put this one type of blood on, and the third hour was this other type of blood. And tons of fake smoke and fake dirt,” Moretz says. It turns out the removal process was even more grueling: “I had to use all this horrible remover—it smelled like paint thinner and it ruined my skin.”

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PHOTO: Jonathan Leibson/WireImage

She might depend on a team to prep her for A-list events, but Moretz has her own go-to girls night out look. “I rim my tear line with Lancome’s Long-Lasting Eyeliner ($26).” (And she swears by Lucas Papaw ($12) for her lips.)

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PHOTO: W Magazine

“The most beautiful a woman can be is hair up in a knot, just hanging out,” she says. “Anyone can look pretty when they have a team of hair and makeup behind them, but if you can be a beautiful person inside and out just bumming around town. I think that’s what beauty is.”